Abstract
Mammals owe their existence to immunosuppressive processes that prevent fetal rejection in utero. Blocking tryptophan catabolism during murine pregnancy allows maternal T cells to provoke fetal allograft rejection. Cells expressing indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), which catabolizes tryptophan, prevent Tcell cycle progression and enhance activation induced T cell death. Here, we discuss the role of cells expressing IDO in regulating maternal T cell immunity during pregnancy and consider whether this mechanism might contribute to immunological discrimination by promoting T cell tolerance in other circumstances.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 213-218 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Seminars in Immunology |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2001 |
Keywords
- Fetal rejection
- Immunosuppression
- Maternal immune responses
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Immunology